Political payback: Christie overshadows Obama

Allegations that the Chris Christie administration created traffic jams in retaliation for a political snub set the political world on fire a few weeks ago. Meanwhile, allegations that the Obama administration uses the government to punish political foes continue to receive relatively scant coverage.

Politico reported this week that Harold McGraw III, CEO of McGraw Hill Financial, which owns the Standard & Poors credit rating agency, has alleged in a legal deposition that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner threatened him with political payback in 2011. That was the year S&P downgraded the U.S. credit rating. McGraw said Geithner called him and said the firm would be “looked at very carefully” by the federal government. McGraw’s deposition was filed in a court case in which the Justice Department alleged last year that S&P defrauded investors.

Also this week The New York Times reported that the IRS has given a Hollywood conservative group unusually tough scrutiny, including an effort to access the group’s membership list. The group keeps its membership confidential because members fear political retribution from liberal Hollywood.

These stories were reported by major mainstream news organizations, but Chris Christie got vastly more coverage. Maybe it’s just not considered news anymore when the Obama administration is alleged to have used the government to punish its political enemies.